The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Gaillardia plant, botanically known as Gaillardia aristata ‘Lucky Wheeler’ and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, ‘Lucky Wheeler’.
‘Lucky Wheeler’ was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at his nursery in Schwamstedt, Germany. The breeding program focuses on obtaining new cultivars of Gaillardia with compact and floriferous plant habit in a range of flower colors. In summer 2006, the Inventor collected and pooled seeds from open pollination of unnamed plants from his breeding program with accession Nos. G04010, G04045, and G04065. ‘Lucky Wheeler’ was selected in 2008 by the Inventor as a single unique plant from the resulting seedlings.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished via stem cuttings in Lisse, The Netherlands in 2008. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.